‘Women Leading Global Change' Conference

It's not everyday that you meet a female barrister who gave up her job to transport medical supplies during the first major siege of Fallujah, was arrested by Iraqi authorities and survived! On 5^th October, forty City students had the chance to do just that. We attended the “Women Leading Global Change” conference, organised by Mulberry School for Girls and held at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in Westminster. The focus of the conference was leadership by women in a global context. It celebrated the huge leap women have made in leadership, while also raising awareness of the challenges that many women around the world still face.

Barrister Jo Wilding was not the only speaker with a fascinating story. We were fortunate enough to hear speeches from seven other extraordinary women who are not just leaders in their respective professional fields, but who have also worked to improve the lives of women in the UK and in developing nations.

Meena Patel set up Southall Black Sisters (a support centre for black women who are domestically abused), despite ridicule and condemnation from her community. Baroness Cox has dedicated her life to trekking across borders of war-torn countries – often without government permission – to deliver humanitarian aid, for which she has won the Wilberforce Award and the International Mother Theresa award.

Dr. Masias Cowper was the first woman the first black woman to receive the prestigious ‘Nelson Mandela Health and Human Rights Award’ for her commitment to serving the world on issues related to Health and Human rights, in spite of being diagnosed with HIV in 1993. Other speakers told a range of fascinating tales, often of great courage and ingenuity.

The selflessness and determination of these and other women in the face of political and social obstacles evoked admiration and respect throughout the hall, and encouraged us all to reassess our ambitions and ideals.

The speakers also represented a wide diversity of views and priorities. Some were concerned with whether or not girls should be given dolls, while others had their sights on practical third world and professional issues. This all made for some lively debates among delegates during breaks in the proceedings.

The conference raised awareness of the obstacles that we as City girls will soon be facing, and inspired us to tackle them with intelligence, ingenuity and courage. I thoroughly enjoyed the day and am grateful to Mulberry School for organising the event.